Heritage buildings in city to be awarded £31m for renovation
THREE HERITAGE buildings in Bradford city centre will undergo a £31m renovation.
But details of which buildings the money is being spent on are being kept under wraps for “confidentiality” reasons.
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has approved £7.4m funding that will allow the revamp to go ahead, with the remaining £24m coming from the private sector.
It said without the funding, developers would be put off by the high costs of overhauling the old buildings, and they would likely remain empty.
The developments are expected to create 283 new housing units and 47,000 sq ft of business spaces in buildings described as being “of major significance to Bradford’s industrial and commercial heritage”.
Work on the first building is due to start in December and end in March 2020. All three buildings are expected to have been completed by March 2021.
WYCA says the money will help developers deal with the “high abnormal costs resulting from the age of the properties, state of repair and limitations of historic status, coupled with the barrier of low market values in the area.” The money will be used for works such as stripping parts of the building out and preparing the site.
Si Cunningham, chair of Bradford Civic Society, said: “At face value it seems like a good thing, bringing derelict buildings back into use, but the report doesn’t include much detail as to which properties would benefit and how the money would be used.
“It could set a concerning precedent if public money is being used to prop up private enterprises, particularly if it’s for the creation of more small city-centre flats.”
Meanwhile, a proposed cinema in Doncaster town centre is back in the pipeline following a lengthy delay. Developer Muse was due to build a six-screen 1,600-seated cinema with four restaurants in Waterdale next to the Cast theatre back in 2014 at a reported cost of £300m.